May 1856

On May 21, 1856, a pro-slavery posse of 800 men sacked the free-state town of Lawrence, Kansas, burning the hotel, destroying newspaper presses, and looting homes. Three days later, John Brown and followers killed five pro-slavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek in retaliation. The violence escalated through summer: pro-slavery forces burned towns, free-state militias fought back. Over 200 people were killed in Kansas between 1854 and 1861. The conflict was directly over whether slavery would expand westward and demonstrated that the question could not be resolved by legislation. Congress seated the fraudulently-elected pro-slavery territorial legislature despite evidence of ballot fraud.

A pro-slavery posse of 800 men calling themselves "law and order" forces rode into Lawrence, Kansas — the center of the free-state movement — and sacked the town. They destroyed two newspaper offices, looted homes, and burned the Free State Hotel. No settlers were killed, but the attack shocked the North. The Territory of Kansas had already seen over 200 men killed in guerrilla violence since 1854.

Three days after the sack of Lawrence, John Brown and seven followers — including four of his sons — dragged five pro-slavery settlers from their homes along Pottawatomie Creek and hacked them to death with broadswords. Brown believed he was doing God's will. The killings intensified guerrilla warfare in "Bleeding Kansas" and made Brown both a hero to radical abolitionists and a symbol of dangerous fanaticism.